Jurors shown photos of 12-year-old dead in trunk during murder trial

The family of Lola Daviet, a 12-year-old girl who was tortured, raped and murdered in France have walked out of court after jurors were shown horrific images of her brutalized body.

Three years after the shocking death of the schoolgirl, the long-awaited trial against Dahbia Benkired, an Algerian migrant living illegally in Paris, began on Friday.

Homeless Benkired, 27, is accused of luring the young girl into her sister’s apartment, where Lola’s parents worked as caretakers.

Investigators allege Benkired sexually assaulted Lola, hit her with scissors and a box cutter, before tying her up with duct tape, including around her face, causing to her death by asphyxia.

The schoolgirl’s naked body was then stuffed into a plastic trunk and dumped on the street outside her parent’s workplace where it was later found.

As court proceedings kicked off, Benkired reportedly asked for forgiveness, France 24 reports.

“I apologise to the whole family,” Benkired said in a monotone. “It’s horrible what I did. I regret it.”

The judge ruled she was competent to stand trial.

However, the gruesome and graphic nature of the evidence was reportedly too much for Lola’s family, with several outlets stating her mother Delphine had to walk out of the court as horrific images of their daughter were shown to the Assize Court, a criminal court that tries the most serious offences in France.

Several chilling videos were also shown, including security footage that showed Benkired approaching the girl as she returned from school, before then leading her into the apartment building at 3:11pm, Le Parisien reports.

An hour and a half later, at 4:59pm, the same CCTV camera captures Benkired leaving the building with two pink suitcases, using one of them to block the door.

The accused, who had changed clothes in the meantime, then went back to retrieve a black trunk and dragged it with difficulty along the hall.

Several building residents reported seeing Benkired in the lobby of the apartment complex, carrying suitcases and a heavy trunk covered in a blanket. One even held the door open for her.

An investigator who took the stand testified that Benkired allegedly confessed to killing Lola during their first interrogation, People reports.

Benkired’s trial has been described as “highly anticipated” amid a tense political landscape where the case surrounding the Algerian [native] has become far-right political fodder, according to the Huffington Post.

Delphine had asked for her daughter’s death to be kept out of political debate surrounding immigration.

In court, Lola’s family wore white T-shirts with a drawing of the teenager, with her brother Thibault asked to speak directly to Dahbia Benkired.

“On behalf of the entire family,” including her father who died in 2024, “we would like you to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, to all of France and to us,” he said, according to BFMTV.

Benkired, who faces life in prison if convicted, is set to stand trial for six days.